Masks
by EasilyBored
Summary: Toshiro Hitsugaya hides behind his mask.


A/N: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Masks**

We can see the same people everyday, work with them, talk to them, and yet they can still be strangers. We may think we know them because of what we see but sometimes even that is just a carefully constructed mask. That person who we thought always seemed so happy and optimistic could really be the complete opposite and no one would know until it was too late. It can go the other way too which was exactly the case for the youngest captain in Soul Society.

Everyone saw him as a cold, collected individual. Always keeping his emotions in check and looking at everything logically. He was a genius with unknown potential who didn't care to get close to anyone. And that was exactly what he wanted them to think. He didn't want anyone to question his past so he always stirred clear of the subject letting everyone assume he was just naturally private. He let everyone believe he was heartless so that he wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to get close to him and then hurting him. He wanted them to believe that he felt he was better than others when the truth was the exact opposite.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was truly a master when it came to hiding behind his mask. During his short life he had only allowed three people to really get close to him; his granny, Hinamori, and Matsumoto. Unfortunately only Matsumoto was left since his granny had died a few months after he left her for the academy and Momo was now unreachable to him. They were the only people to ever see him smile or act his age even if the instances were few and far between.

He always made sure to keep up his cold exterior to everyone else and would only let it slip when he was completely alone with Matsumoto. She didn't blame him though; she knew what had led him to be that way and what was forcing him to continue the act.

For as long as he could remember people had always treated him with hate and fear. His earliest memory was running from a group of people chasing him from their homes. The entire first year of his life had been no better, constantly on the move and fighting to keep his self alive. He had actually traveled through all the districts starting from the last. It was while he was digging through the garbage in the first district that he had met Momo. At the time he had been nothing more than a wild child. During their first encounter he had run away. To his surprise she continued to turn up around him and try to gain his trust by offering him food which he never would take. It took her two weeks before he finally took the food she offered and another week before he would let her near him. That was when she convinced him to come home with her. Her granny had instantly accepted him though it didn't escape his notice how the community seemed to shun her afterwards.

That year had been the best in his life though it hadn't been easy. He was still threatened constantly but now he had two people who would help him. His granny had made it her personal mission to civilize him, making him learn the appropriate way to behave and scolding him whenever he used the numerous curses that he had learned. To him it was the best time of his life and then Momo left for the academy. When she left he couldn't help but feel abandoned though she would visit occasionally. His granny seemed to understand.

The following two years were hard on both he and his granny. She was constantly sick and he was forced to make the money to support them both. Unfortunately very few people were willing to hire him and the few that did would cheat him out of most of his money, forcing him to work more. In the end though, they had food and medicine.

That was when Matsumoto first met him. She had witnessed a shop keeper giving him a hard time and had come to his defense. Their encounter hadn't been pleasant since she had immediately knocked him to the ground with her oversized breast. She later turned up at his home and asked him to become a shinigami. He only agreed after she told him it was the only way for him to learn to control his reiastu which was slowly killing his granny. He left with her that same day.

While he was at the academy no one had anything to do with him and anyone who attempted to give him a hard time had simply been glared at until they got the message to leave him alone. His anti-social behavior only got worse once he learned that his granny had died when their old home had caught fire. Despite his suspicions he could never prove that someone had intentionally started the fire. By that point Matsumoto was the only person he willingly would talk to. He rarely saw Momo during his year at the academy and when he did there was such a difference from before that he couldn't drop his mask around her anymore, at least not completely. He couldn't help but feel that Matsumoto was taking her place as a sister in his mind.

After his graduation he was assigned to the seventh division. It had not been easy. No matter what he did, he would always be met with others in his division trying to ruin everything for him. He had applied for captaincy after moving up to the third seat and mastering his bankai which had only taken a year. He passed all the tests that were required of him perfectly but he was still denied the position. He was forced to take the tests twice more during the next year and only then did they finally give in and make him the tenth division captain. When they asked him to pick a lieutenant he didn't even pause in saying Matsumoto's name, much to everyone's surprise.

He worked the next eight years as a captain. During that time frame he had fought and earned the loyalty of his men, earned the respect from most the other captains, proved his worth to Soul Society, and defeated Aizen at the end of the Winter War. And yet he could still feel the stares and hear the whispers every time he went for a walk. There were many who were still waiting for him to fail, many who thought a child had no right to order around adults. He knew that deep down nearly everyone shared the same thoughts to a certain extent, even though they probably didn't acknowledge it. That was why he continued to wear his mask. He hid behind his apparent coldness and maturity so that more people wouldn't fall under the illusion that he was an unfit child who didn't belong. He hid behind his constant scowls so that no one could read him and realize how intimidated he sometimes felt. He hid behind his constant work so that he had an escape to get away from others and never turned down a job so that no one would think he wasn't capable.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was a stranger to everyone in Soul Society but that was fine with him. Loneliness and misery was a price he was willing to pay to survive, that was the one thing his granny never had been able to change.


End file.
